dReaMcaTcHeR….

ts highly true that as you get older you get to be more appreciative of the things  you have in life especially those  things that  are  important  to you -  like family, friends, work, etc., When I was younger I must say I was somewhat passive, carefree on my attitude and dealings with these valuables of mine. Talking about family and friends, of course I loved them right from the very start and thankful for their presence in my life but really, i believe there’s that turning point in your life wherein you feel you’ve truly matured and grown beyond your usual self  in terms of how  you  look at things and how you value and treat people, how you take in certain situations that come your way. To some people they believe their experiences have made them mature and to some they think its their age which made the difference. Anyhow, whether its the experience or the age, the point is, it has made a person to become the person that he is supposed to become. =D    

My family rules in my list. They should be honored and valued and if possible should not be given disappointments, huh! (but forgive me for being self-centered at times:( and not thinking on what they’re going to feel on some situations). At this point, thank God my parents are in good health and living a healthy and stress free life, my siblings are trying their best as well in making their lives better for their families, I am still very close to them and we are soo concerned of each other’s whereabouts. My great aunties are aging but they’re healthy and fine and hopefully things will always be better for them. Consequently, I always get a high feeling when I am with my nephews and nieces and seeing how they’ve grown through the years. Its so touching how their faces light up everytime they see "Auntie GoT" especially RiGo and how they want to be close to me all the time.Hehehe! Its cute and kilig everytime they choose to stay with me at home for a while than going home with their Papa (my Manong) and ask endless questions about just anything. Rigo is the sweetest, he’s my youngest nephew at 5, he cries sometimes when he misses me and when he doesn’t see me for weeks or a month and we are phone pals whether I am in Cebu or at home in Calatrava. Roji is my eldest nephew. he’s the youngest bro that I’ve always wished to have even until high school but never ever had. At his young age of 14, we can talk about anything - music, photography, fashion, movies, boys, girls, school, life, heartaches as in whatever. And well, Am-Am will always be special because she’s my very first niece and first love. She’s remarkabale and she’s the most humble person i’ve ever known…no airs at all. She’s my sweetie pie forever. Janjan is a responsible kid, he protects his sisters and he has a mind of his own at his age, Roe is a smart kid yet soo "bugay", she’s pretty but she is not aware of it and has no care in the world about how she looks at all hahaha and of course my darling IR, my youngest niece, is the most talkative and observant kid i know, she loves to sing and pray and she wants to be given attention all the time, ignore her for a minute or two and she’ll walk out hahaha! Whooah  I can only pray and hope that these young people which are very dear to me will continue to be loving and good. If only I can stop them from growing so I will have them as my babies for always. Sigh:(

My cousins are happy on their own and they are always there for me as well. We don’t get together as often as we used to do but I know they’re okay and they know too that I am gonna be okay. The sweet truth is that whatever happens I know we’ll always be there for each other. And boy, how i love ‘em… all of ‘em even with their shortcomings :)            

Just recently, I’ve had the chance to spend real bonding moments with friends…just last week i had a 4-day get together with my high school friends…it was a happy time. Sweet. And i realized Oh God it’s happening to me, things that I used to dream are now taking place slowly one at a time.  Hmmm, of course what I meant was spending time with my high school girl friends along with their kids and husbands when were not yet quite old and could still manage to "liad" for pictorial purposes, hahaha! Wherein we could still laugh about our innocence and impulsiveness way way back. Wherein no matter how much a person has changed thru the years and hasn’t changed either you know that you’d still love and accept her for who she is. It melted my heart knowing that whatever comes I would always have these faces with me and their husbands and kids too.

Then again, last night I met up with my "everyday girls" (Mang Ayereen, Diding & Titet), hahaha as what I fondly call them, at Robinsons for some chitchats and to check out Ayereen’s new set of burloloys. After half an hour of updates and "halungkitanay of the burloloys" we decided to have dinner at Mamang’s place so we can extend our bonding.  And I realized too that i am happy and at home with them that i can be with them at any time and at any place just as long as we want to. They’re home to me. You know where I can be at my best and at my worst and could still carry on a heartful laugh despite a not soo very good day at work.

Two months ago too, i’ve spent a well deserved evening with my college buddies who haven’t changed at all over the years. Same kabuangs and bahakhaks, same expressions, same similarities and differences until now. Same with my high school girlfriends, they too, have also their own families and they are happy which make me happy as well. Bonding with them again enriched me as if another part of myself came out and blended with them again after several years, but if you come to think of it on a serious note, you know that you are that ONE SAME person blending in with different kinds of personalities that have been part of you for years.

In the coming days, i will be laughing along with my Nursing igats and am quite excited about it, another set of friends who i adore and love too and who I can’t imagine as not part of me. They too have also brought out the best and the worst in me, accepting and taking me for what and who I am. We may be separated by distance but I know in my heart that our friendship and memories will keep us close.

I also have a lot of other friends whom I just can’t live without (like my Gurlash Angel, TanYa, Chloe, Marie Ann, Dai Jean & Dai Joan, Sugar, Day Fat, Botchoy, among others, who have always been loyal and thoughtful, who are willing to fight for me whatever it takes and who will never think twice of helping me out in the middle of the rain and even at the wee hours of the morning. They are also very much appreciated. I love them all soo much.

I just feel so lucky having all these people in my life…both family and friends.

It’s HAPPENING, true, slowly…accordingly,.but not all yet…there’s still a lot to come, a lot to unfold all at the right time, there’s still a lot to endure, to be happy about, to be experienced, a lot of realities to take in each day, both expected and unexpected, Only God knows what would it be and all i have to do is trust in His will, but the fact that things are happening the way I wanted and hoped them to be NOW is one good reason for me to be thankful for always. I can only pray that these things will stay the same for a long time, if not for always

I initially planned of waking up late this morning since
i didn’t get enough sleep for the past 2 nights but while still asleep i heard
some noise inside the room made by Titet who arrived from her graveyard duty. I
lazily opened my eyes and saw my good friend, Tatang from San Carlos, (who
stayed overnight at our crib) rising from bed. Then I remember, ooh its Father’s
Day and immediately thought of calling Papa dear to say my greetings.

He picked up the phone on its third ring and he
was almost laughing when he heard my voice and told me that he knew I was going
to call him:) I said my greetings with i love you of course (i always tell him
that and sometimes he answers back and sometimes he doesn’t heheh). Then he
asked me if I was going to talk to Mama when we’re done talking and then I said
nope,Pang this is your day so i shall talk ONLY with you, think ONLY about you
today  and then he laughed again, I was imagining Papa’s face while he was
laughing and i missed him ;{ haven’t seen him for 2 weeks as of this writing

While I was waiting for my turn in the restroom after
Tatang, I tried to go back to sleep but found myself thinking of Papa instead
and so I gave in to the trip down memory lane, heheh!

I’ve always believed that both the father and the son
feel the same pride and joy for having each other. But stories and experiences
say that it takes a son to become a father for him to realise and value the
worth of his father. Well, they said it all, so i think soo too

I am going to talk about my dear Papa Rudy since this is
his big day. I am writing this deliberately for him and i am hoping he can read
this but since he is not sooo "friendly, but trying hard to be friends with" the
internet and computer thingie for that matter, i’d better have this blog printed
and let him read this ;)         

As far as I can remember I’ve always loved being with him
and proud of his presence. When I was younger I remember how he would wake up in
the middle of the night when i had my occasional fever (i had a very low
resistance when I was younger and would acquire fever every now and then) and
gave me tepid sponge bath, how he would make me take my oddly flavored
suspensions and tablets in just a finger’s snap. He would take turns with
Mama in bringing me to sleep and how he would snugged me tightly everytime my
most ever patient male old attendant, Lolo Elizer Villaflor, would insert his
needle right through my veins for my IV or so called "dextrose" in those days
;(  He would never left me in the night until I dozed off to sleep and then he
would get some short sleeps then wake up again to give my scheduled medicines
for that particular wee hours of the morning. Can you imagine how sweet
Papa was?! :)  I can only think and be grateful that he is my father.

I can also remember how strict he was and how how he
would whip me with his leather belt everytime I did stupid things then …most
especially saying bad words heared from people and playmates, not telling the
truth and going out of the house without their permission, and even my big
sister ang big brother were not spared from his powerful belt hahaha, and they
even had their last kneeling session alongside whipping during their high school
years when they fought over trivial matters and Papa could not just stop them
from shouting at each other and fighting like cats and dogs ;)  But his being a
disciplinarian and obstinate could not lessen his points for being a truly
awesome father to me, to us. Its just his way and all those times while he was
spanking me and i was heartily crying through pain and fear, I never had a
single thought that he didn’t love me, never… all i thought that time was when
will he ever stop so i could stop crying and play again, hahaha!
    

He’s a loving father, very supportive infact, to the
point of making some of my school requirements and speeches in high school and
college. He would patiently wake me up at dawn so I could study when there were
scheduled periodicals and midterms. But the thing that always melts my heart is
when Papa would visit me in school, surprised ones or not and he did it even
until I reached college and up until my second job after my graduation from
college. He would tell me that he was dropping by my school and office everytime
he was in Cebu and yeah right even until my 2nd degree course in Nursing, he
would popped out along the corridors of WNU to pay me a quick visit
and would make short chitchats with my group of friends. And, i’ve always loved
the feeling of introducing him to my friends especially when they would tell me
that I looked like Papa Nyahaha, the simple joys of being a daughter as what
I call it

He did soo much for our family, he worked so hard to send
us all to school and provide us a decent living and a comfortable life to a
certain extent. He’s a smart one and he really knows what he wants. I am not
going to bring in into details all that he has achieved because that would
make me boastful and too proud but whatever they all are that he has achieved
under his name, still, the best of it all and the most important at that is his
being a great father to me, to all of us, if not the greatest.

I don’t ignore the fact that he has his flaws and
shortcomings as a father and as a person, well, we all do but still that
wouldn’t change the fact the he is my father and am proud of him and i love him
for who and what he is and i will never exchange him for any other father in the
world.

My Manang Rhoda would often tell me that that I was/am
luckier among us three (3) because I came in to the world when Papa started to
mellow, wherein he was no longer as strict as he was when they were my age,
wherein he was aging already and he was no longer that hard on things and well
maybe was more experienced when he and Mama had me in their early forties (40s).
Manang can say  that again but sure thing she also love Papa as much as i do,
even more i guess, haahhaaa!

He doesn’t say much, he only observes you from a
distance but the moment he says his piece, its final and it should warn you or
else you will truly regret why you ever did such thing. But i know how to
appease him and make "parayg" so there’s always a thing for reconsideration in
our house. He listens and he gives you the chance to explain your
side.

He’s very jolly and peace loving…he doesn’t get himself
into fights, he doesn’t smoke nor drink, one bottle of beer is enough for him
when he’s caught around social gatherings, but he knows how to turn down such
invites and that’s what i like about Papa too, he knows how to decline within
reason. He knows his priorities and drinking and buzzing around town are not
just his way, he’d rather spend long hours in his garden or read his latest
issue of Reader’s Digest or prepare for the coming CNHS Alumni reunion wherein
he’s the president for the past 22 years, no wonder I am also into reunions and
get togethers myself, hahaha!

Well, this is getting longer than i wanted it to be, the
truth is i just can’t stop writing about him hehhe. There’s still a lot to
describe, to give thanks and credit, to remember and reminisce but if I wouldn’t
stop myself i’d end up not sleeping again for another night, lol!

I am just thankful, happy that GOD gave me my PaPa Rudy.
I can only pray and hope that he stays healthy and at peace, good natured and
humble. My only dream for now is that God will give him more years to live and
that He can walk me down the aisle in butterfly kisses when that special day of
mine happens in which only GOD knows when.

I can see in his eyes and I can feel in him that he’s
happy and proud of me and what i have become and it melts my heart always to
know that i’ve made him happy and proud at some point in his life.

Thank you soo much Pang for all that you are to me, and
to us. You will always be my hero and you will always be a part of me wherever I
may go. Love you so much.

Papa is not only my father but he’s my friend and most of
all he’s my teacher and fan, who will never give up on me even if everybody will
turn their back on me

HAPPY HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to the most groovy DAD in the
world!